Tom Brady's new pup has a surprising origin story.
The seven-time Super Bowl champion revealed on Tuesday that his dog Junie is actually a clone of his late pit bull mix, Lua, a beloved family pet he shared with ex-wife Gisele Bündchen and their children. Brady made the announcement alongside major biotech news from Colossal Biosciences, the Dallas-based company behind his dog's cloning and one that he's personally invested in.
Colossal, known for its "de-extinction" efforts like the dire wolf and dodo bird projects, confirmed it had acquired Viagen Pets and Equine, the Texas biotech company that famously cloned Barbra Streisand's and Paris Hilton's dogs.
Lua, who appeared in Brady's 2014 Ugg Australia commercial and often on his social media, died in December 2023. Bündchen, who announced Lua's death in an emotional Instagram post last year, called the dog their "guardian angel" and shared photos of Lua with the family's children, Benjamin and Vivian. Before Lua's passing, Brady said he worked with Colossal to preserve her genetic material.
"I love my animals. They mean the world to me and my family," Brady said in a statement. "A few years ago, I worked with Colossal and leveraged their non-invasive cloning technology through a simple blood draw of our family's elderly dog before she passed. The company gave my family a second chance with a clone of our beloved dog."
Brady added that he's "excited how Colossal and Viagen's tech together can help both families losing their beloved pets while helping to save endangered species."
Viagen, founded in 2002, has cloned more than 15 species, including endangered ones like the black-footed ferret, and holds a vast bank of genetic material from threatened species such as white and black rhinos. Colossal said the acquisition will bolster its conservation and genetic preservation efforts through its "Bio Vaults" initiative.